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Gerard Manley Hopkins Letters

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Gerard Manley Hopkins

UCD Special Collections holds the personal letters of Gerard Manley Hopkins to Alexander Mowbray Baillie.

(opens in a new window)View this whole collection of letters in UCD Digital Library.

Identity Statement

Reference code IE/ UCD/SC/L29-L71

Title
Gerard Manly Hopkins Letters.

Dates
1863-1888.

Level of Description
Fonds.

Extent
43 items.

Context

Creator
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889).

Biographical History

  • Gerard Manley Hopkins was born in Essex.
  • He studied classics at Balliol College, Oxford.
  • While there Hopkins converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism, having been influenced by John Henry Newman.
  • After graduating he became a Jesuit priest and held various teaching posts in Britain.
  • In 1884 he became professor of Greek literature at University College Dublin.
  • His disapproval of Irish political unrest and the strain of teaching made his time in Dublin a very dark period in his life.
  • This is reflected in his later poetry, which is some of his most melancholy and also most critically acclaimed work.
  • Hopkins died in Dublin in 1889 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery. 
  • It was not until after his death that his poetry received critical attention and that he was recognised as a leading Victorian poet.

Source of Acquisition
Donated by Vernon Brooks, 1989.

Scope and Content

Personal letters of Gerard Manley Hopkins to Alexander William Mobray Baillie, a college friend and barrister who lived in London.

Subject matter of letters includes:

  • Work
  • Poetry
  • Literature
  • Travel
  • References to mutual friends and acquaintances
  • Egyptian and Greek etymology
  • Politics
  • Catholicism
  • Law
  • Hobbies
  • Gifts
  • Social occasions
  • Letters with drawings by Hopkins.
Access and Use

Reproduction
Photocopying of archival collections is not permitted. Photography permissions and policies vary. Please contact (opens in a new window)special.collections@ucd.ie for more details regarding the photography of this specific collection.

Language
English.

Finding Aid
n/a.

Allied Material

Publication Note

All letters have been digitised and can be found in the UCD Digital Library collection "(opens in a new window)UCD Letters".

All letters are published in Abbott, C.C. (Ed.) (1956) Further Letters of Gerard Manley Hopkins, including his correspondence with Coventry Patmore, 2nd ed. London: OUP, pp. 199-294.

More Information

UCD Special Collections

James Joyce Library, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
T: +353 1 716 7149 | E: special.collections@ucd.ie